


On Your Toes

by Paintdripps



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Competition, Falling In Love, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Pro-Bending, Republic City, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-18
Updated: 2014-12-18
Packaged: 2018-02-26 08:09:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2644463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paintdripps/pseuds/Paintdripps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He doesn't have time to yelp, he just ducks and wonders if that's a foul. Headshots are supposed to be illegal, after all. </p><p>No call from the refs."</p><p>(Pro-bending AU where they've got to get their heads in the game, but they're all stuck in the clouds.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Your Toes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nitorisource](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nitorisource/gifts).



They're the Iwatobi Turtleducks.

It's not a particularly ferocious name, but Nagisa loves turtleducks, and Makoto and Rei still can't say no to him, not even after all these years.

Makoto knows they don't look particularly threatening, either, not with his gentle demeanor and Nagisa's petite build and Rei's sort of gangly limbs. They look like any other ragtag band of awkward teenagers—and even now, after months of living in Republic City, Makoto is pretty sure they still exude that 'just a small-town guy' feel.

But the Iwatobi Turtleducks are a pretty good team, and he thinks they have a shot at winning tonight's game.

“So let’s just make sure to stay on our toes,” he says to Nagisa and Rei. Both give affirmative nods. Nagisa’s helmet slips a little as he does so, and he has to adjust it afterward.

They’re in the locker room at the moment, optimistic and warmed up and more than a little nervous. Rei’s fingers won’t stop fidgeting with his belt—a sash of deep red, to mark him as their team’s firebender—and Makoto can already feel his heart rate picking up.

He adjusts his left wrist guard, needing something to do.

A knock at the door.

“Hey, Turtleducks, you’re up.”

Makoto glances back at his teammates.

Rei nods seriously.

Nagisa grins at him. “Come on, let’s go!”

Makoto has to grin back.

* * *

 The Omashu Badgermoles are dressed in a scratchy-looking forest green color. Their waterbender is a short, skinny girl with icy blue eyes; their firebender is a solidly built guy with dark skin that reminds Makoto of roasted chestnuts.

And their earthbender.

Oh, their earthbender.

She’s tall and olive-complexioned and looks like she could crush someone’s skull with just her bare hands. She fixes Nagisa with a glare as the announcer calls her team members’ names. Oh, so her name is Jin, and the waterbender is Kari and the firebender is Asao.

Nagisa just beams at her as though he hasn’t a care in the world, and Jin scowls a little harder.

“She looks like she wants to eat us or something,” Makoto whispers to Rei as their names are being called.

Rei winces.

And then introductions are over and the announcer is being lowered from the platform, and they have to get into their ready positions so that the match can begin.

The bell dings.

Right off the bat, Jin launches a disk at Makoto’s head. He doesn't have time to yelp, just ducks and wonders if that's a foul. Headshots are supposed to be illegal, after all.

No call from the refs.

Ah, it can’t be helped. Makoto sidesteps a blast of fire from Asao and sends a stream of water at him in return. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Rei and Nagisa fighting as though their lives depend on it. Poor Nagisa has become Jin’s main target; the blond doesn’t even have time to try and do any attacking, just jumps and spins and dodges all of the disks she’s sending his way.

Nagisa is extremely agile, for an earthbender, and he’s using his speed to execute some truly splendid dodges.

Rei is taking on Kari. She’s got grit, this petite Water Tribe girl, but Makoto notices immediately why Rei is trying to focus only on her. Her stance. She’s too grounded, which is bad for a person of her size. If Rei gets a good hit in...

He does. One of Rei’s fireballs hits her squarely in the stomach, and she’s reeling back.

Her foot slips over the line between Zones 1 and 2, and she’s forced to retreat into Zone 2.

Another narrow dodge from one of Asao’s attacks reminds Makoto that he should be focusing on his own game, so he stops fretting over his teammates and sends a blast of water at Jin.

Jin, too intent on trying to pummel Nagisa, doesn’t have enough time to react to Makoto’s attack before the water shoves her back a zone.

Which leaves Asao as the only member of the Badgermoles left in Zone 1.

Makoto makes eye contact with Nagisa, and wordlessly they make a decision: _Switch._

With Makoto now successfully keeping Jin occupied, Nagisa has the freedom to start attacking Asao. He kicks and spins and sends disks flying at the firebender, and as Makoto watches him out of the corner of his eye, he marvels over how Nagisa moves. The boy looks almost like he’s flying, like an airbender.

He probably picked it up from watching Haru train. Nagisa is always trying to integrate other fighting styles into his earthbending. He’s an inventive one, that’s for sure.

Unfortunately, Makoto is starting to regret taking on this earthbender. He’s nowhere near as fast as Nagisa, and the force behind each disk Jin sends at him is more than a little terrifying. If he so much as missteps once—

Oof.

As the stone disk makes contact with his leg, the limb immediately goes numb and he buckles.

Another disk, this one to his chest. All the breath leaves his body in one gasp. 

There's a buzzing sound. Oh. He's been knocked back a zone. Makoto tries to stand, tries to right himself from this awkward crouching position that he's hunched in. 

Oof.

That's another one. It hits him in the arm and jerks him backward with its momentum. Damn. His entire arm has gone completely numb; the irrational part of him wonders if he's broken his arm, but more likely than not it's just badly bruised. 

He skids back a few feet. He's in Zone 3 now, all the way back by the edge. Nagisa and Rei are still holding their own in Zone 1, luckily, and they've pushed Asao and Kari back to Zone 3. Jin remains in Zone 2, however. 

Makoto scrambles to his feet.

The bell signaling the end of Round 1 clangs. Iwatobi has won Round 1; there are only two more rounds to go.

"Are you all right?" Rei asks him, looking a little out of breath but otherwise unharmed.

"Yeah," he croaks out.

Nagisa's eyes are wide with concern. "Are you sure? I saw you get hit. And this girl is  _brutal_."

"I'll be fine," Makoto reassures him, even as a dull pain starts to bloom in the spots where he's been hit.

Nagisa chews on his lower lip before offering to take on Jin again, since he's faster and a smaller target, and--

Makoto shakes his head. "It'll be fine. I'll be fine."

Nagisa looks like he wants to argue, but then the bell signaling the start of Round 2 clangs and they have to line up in their starting positions again.

* * *

Iwatobi wins, although Makoto can't exactly claim that he helped much.

Mostly, he'd just tried to avoid getting knocked off the platform. Makoto has never been particularly fleet-footed, but this match... this match, his lack of agility has been shown acutely. Undoubtedly, his clumsy struggle to stay standing has been broadcasted all over Republic City; this is the worst he's played all season. 

Nagisa celebrates their victory with a very tight group hug practically the instant they get out of the arena (they're completely blocking up one of the facility's hallways), one that makes Makoto cringe as his sore ribs are all but crushed. 

"H-hey, Nagisa," he gasps out. 

Nagisa releases him with a squeak. "Oh! Sorry! I forgot--"

Rei shifts his feet. "Are you sure you're okay? Should we take you to a doctor?"

Makoto gives them a reassuring smile. "No, I'll be fine. My mom's a healer, remember? Like me."

"Nice match."

Makoto doesn't even have to turn around to look. "Haru!"

"Haru-chan!" Nagisa gives the stoic-faced airbender a flying tackle hug. Haru grunts as Nagisa's momentum sends him staggering backward. "You came!"

"Tch," is all that Nagisa gets in response. But Haru is smiling, his blue eyes gleaming with pride for his friends. "Of course I came."

Everyone hears the unspoken words:  _"I wouldn't miss it for the world."_

Haru had never been much of a pro-bending fan when they were all little kids; Nagisa and Makoto had been the ones who loved going to matches and watching with wide eyes. But ever since the Turtleducks had started competing, Haru had yet to miss a single one of their matches. 

"Makoto," Haru says, frowning slightly. "I saw you getting beat up out there. You're too slow."

Makoto blushes. "I know." Haru never beats around the bush with this kind of thing. 

"We'll practice tomorrow," he says. "You need to rest."

Makoto just smiles and nods, even though working on his agility with his airbending friend is the last thing he wants to do. He's never been a fan of trying to balance on top of those wobbly wooden poles[1] that Haru always insists are a quintessential part of Air Nomad culture, but he always tries anyway. 

"Oi, move it. You're blocking the entire hallway," a voice growls out. 

Makoto shuffles to the side automatically, an apology on his lips, but then he sees the speaker. 

Red hair pulled back in a short ponytail. Intimidatingly sharp canines. Eyebrows raised in an expression of pure exasperation. 

"Rin..?" he says, bewildered, just as Nagisa lets out a gasp of "Rin-chan?!"

Rin's eyes--yes, this is definitely Rin, just much older than the last time they'd seen him--light up in recognition. 

"Makoto? Nagisa? ...Haru? What are you guys--" he stops. Makoto realizes that their business in this athletes-only area of the facility isn't immediately clear, since they've all changed out of their pro-bending gear and into normal clothes. 

"We just had a match," says Nagisa. "Are you--"

"We're about to play," interrupts one of Rin's teammates. Makoto notes their uniforms, dark gray with touches of scarlet edging here and there. "So if you would please get out of the way--"

Makoto looks at him. The guy is tall, maybe even a little bit taller than him, with dark hair and a sullen-looking expression. He's wearing a green belt, so he's their team's earthbender. 

"That's rude, Sousuke," Rin says to the earthbender as Nagisa and Rei scoot closer to the wall so that Rin's team can walk past. 

Sousuke snorts. "I just don't want to be late."

"Good luck, Rin-chan!" Nagisa calls after them. 

Rin stops. "Hey, wait. We all need to catch up later or something. I didn't know you guys were even in Republic City."

Haru scoffs. 

"Okay. Um, you guys could stop by our place," Makoto suggests. "We live in that apartment complex on the corner of Harbor and Bosco Street. It's right across from the ferry dock to Air Temple Island, you can't miss it."

"I think I've seen it before. Is it the white one or the brick one?"

"The brick one. With the vines on it," Nagisa pipes up. 

"Rin," Sousuke says exasperatedly. Their third member, a short blue-eyed boy, is bouncing in place rather anxiously. "We're gonna be late."

"Catch you guys later," Rin says half-apologetically, and then he starts to go with his teammates. 

Nagisa and Makoto wave until he rounds the corner. Then Nagisa laughs and chirps, "Can you believe it? We actually ran into Rin-chan!"

Haru just shakes his head in disbelief. 

"Gosh, it's been six whole years," Makoto says. "Maybe seven."

Rei taps his shoulder hesitantly. 

"Yes?"

"Um... who is 'Rin-chan', exactly?"


End file.
